On Thursday, November 13, the U.S.-based nonprofit Ubuntu Africa hosted its first fashion show fundraiser to support young people living with HIV in Khayelitsha, South Africa. The organization provides them with comprehensive care and services and empowers them to live healthy and stigma-free lives.
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Whitney Johnson, an American, founded Ubuntu Africa in 2007 at the age of 21. She had spent her junior year of college in Cape Town, volunteering at an orphanage in Khayelitsha, an informal township on the Western Cape. In her first month at work, she saw three children die, which motivated her to make a difference.
Held in New York City, “Fashion Roars” was a sex-positive event with contributions from designers like Tommy Hilfiger, Rebecca Minkoff and Caycee Black.
The group proudly proclaimed on the catwalk that it has not lost one child under its care since the organization was founded.
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About 300 people were in attendance at the Broad Street Ballroom across from Wall Street in Downtown Manhattan. The show featured donated clothes from more than two dozen designers. There was twerking. There was grinding. And there were lots and lots of fishnets.
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After the fashion show, Johnson took the stage to go over Ubuntu’s work with the charged-up audience. She then asked local CBS weatherman John Elliot to kick off a ritzy live auction.
Attendees eagerly bid on prizes like a Paris vacation, sustainable fashion from right off the runway and even a luxury bathtub.
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